Stop-cylinder printing-machine



(Nd Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 1.

B. HUBER,

STOP CYLINDER PRINTING MAGHINE.

Patented June 1'7 [IVVENTOR 73% M W1 TNESSES: Ka flux 1M4 ATTORNEY NFEIERS PIma-Lilllcgnpher. w;-

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 2.

B. HUBER.

$TOPOYLINDER PRINTING MACHINE. No. 300,870. Patented June 17, 1884.

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WITNESSES: [NVENT OR (No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 3.

' B. HUBER.

STOP CYLINDER PRINTING MAGHINE,

Patented June 17, 1884.

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4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

L VVENTOR @Moeaum Patented June 17, 1884.

N. PETER! finals-Lithographer. Washhamn, RC.

B HUBER STOP CYLINDER PRINTING MACHINE.

.1 8 d 0 M 0 N th rst-i i. i ETATES STOP-CYLINDER PRiNTING-MACHlNE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 300,370, dated June 17,1884.

Application filed July 6, 1883.

.To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, BERTHOLD HUBER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Taunton, in the county of Bristol and State ofMassachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in StopCylinder Printing -Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in the mechanism used forstopping and starting again the cylinder in a stopcylinderprintingprcss. In this class of printing-presses the cylinder obtainsits motion during the largest part of each revolution from the bedalone, while the bed may be driven by the ordinary crankmotion or by anyother suitable mechanism. While on the impression or forward stroke ofthe bed the cylinder is geared directly to the bed, but on thereturn-stroke of the bed the cylinder stands still, continuing itsintermittent motion constantly in one direction on the next forwardstroke of the bed. In order to let the rack on the bed, which gearsdirectly with the gear on the cylinder, return withoutagain moving thecylinder, the teeth on the cylinder are cut away at that part of thecylinder-gear which is lowest during the period of non-rotation of thecylinder. In order that the cylinder may be brought to rest at exactlythe same place at the end of every forward stroke of the bed, and enterinto action with the rack exactly at the commencement ofevcry forwardstroke, it is necessary to provide the cylinder with a stopping andstarting mechanism, or its equivalent. Such a mechanism usually consistsof one or more cams, which, by means of one or more rollers workingtherewith and suitable connecting-rods, actuate a forked. lover. Thecams arcof such shapes and the lever is so forked that the duty of thelever shall be to embrace a roller projecting from the end of thecylinder-gear as the cylinder nears the end of the stroke and is aboutto free itself from the rack on the bed, shall hold the cylinder, whenat rest, in exactly the same position every time, in order to insureaccurate register, while the bed makes 'its return-stroke free of thecylinder; and,

50 again, thereby bringing the cyliudcngear and (X0 model.)

bed-rack into action, whereupon it shall free itself from the roller onthe cylinder-gear and shall return to its central position ready to takeand stop the cylinder once more on the completion of its stroke. Owingto the fact that there is a large amount of energy stored in thecylinder as it nears the end of its stroke, which has to be absorbed,and that an equal amount of energy has to be imparted to the cylinder instarting it from rest and before the rack on the bed takes it, and sincethis energy has to be absorbed by and then given back to the cylinder bythe cams moving the forked lever, it has been found by experience thatthe wear on the cams, rollers, levers, 850., has been very detrimentalto the accurate working of the machine, thereby preventing accurateregistor, and injurious to the life of the machine, thereby causingfrequent repairs. As the energy to be absorbed and then to be given backto the cylinder increases with the square of the velocity, andconsequently the wear of parts in the same proportion, such mechanismcan only be used advantageously at low speeds, thereby precluding theuse of a stop-cylinder press for fast work.

The objectof my invention is to remove the largest part of the straindue to the energy of the cylinder from the cams, rollers, levers, &c.,and put it in a place more capable of receiving it, the result beingthat there is butlittle, if any, wear to the cams and intermediateparts; and the press can, in consequence, be run with considerableincrease of speed and with a greater degree of economy. I accomplishthis very desirable feature by absorbing the energy of the arrivingcylinder by a cushion or buffer device, and by imparting to the startingcylinder the same amount of energy by the reverse operation. Byregulating the energy taken up and given out again by the cushion orbuffer the amount of strain on the cams, 820., can be made as small ascan be desired, and the cams will become simply timekecpcrs for thecushion or buffer with reference to the cylinder. The cushion or buffermay be of any of the well-known forms, such as are used to arrest themotion oi moving parts; and the style ot'cushion or buffer actually usedon a press forms no part of my in- IOC coiled wire, or other springs nowin use,which 'are capable of absorbing the momentum of a moving body andof afterward restoring it, may be used with advantage. In the draw ingsI have represented the cushion or buffer as consisting of steelwiresprings coiled around rods, as such a form of cushion, I have reason tobelieve, is the most efficient and economical.

To further describe my invention,'reference is made to the accompanyingdrawings, in which similar letters refer .to corresponding parts.

Figure 1 of the drawings represents the general arrangement of astop-cylinder press of the class I have reference to, with the outerframe removed in order to show more plainly the operating mechanism, andhow that some of the teeth of the cylinder-gear are cut away to allow ofthe passage of the rack on the bed. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of thesame machine with one form of my improvement applied to it. Fig. 3 is across-sectional elevation of Fig. 2, the line of section being takenthrough the cylinder, forked levers, and bed-rack pinion B. Fig. 4 is anend elevation of the same. Figs. 5, 6, and? show my improvement, asapplied in Fig. 2, in some of the different positions taken during acomplete stroke of the bed. Fig. Sis a side elevation of the same press,with the lever mechanism connecting the buffer with the forked leversomewhat varied.

Fig. 9 is a plan of the same with the cylinder and bed removed. Fig. 10is a side elevation, and Fig. 11 is aplan section, of another variationin the application of my invention to the same machine, in which thebuffer only acts on the cylinder in one direction.

A A are side frames; A, foundation; A", the feed-board. O is thecylinder, having on its end the cylinder-gear 0", part of .whose teethare cut away sufficiently to .allow the bed B to return when the cutoffpart of gear 0 presents itself to the rack B on the side of the bed. Cis a tooth or roller projecting out from the cylinder-gear G, and insuch a position that when the cylinder is at rest while the bed isreturning the center line of the roller, will be in the center of thecut-off part of the cylinder-gear and vertically below the center ofcylinder. As the cylinder nears the end of its stroke the forked leverG, swinging about stud in side frame, A, comes forward and engages withthe roller 0". The lever 0 ob tains its motion from the cams C and C,

placed on the crank-shaft C by means of the connecting-rod 0', one ofwhose ends is fastened to the lower end of lever O by means of stud Oand the other end embraces the crankshaft 0 between thetwo cams O andC", and has rollers 0 and G projecting from its outer and inner sides,respectively, and of such size and position relative to each other thatthey are constantlyin contact with cams O and C, respectively. The camsC and (J are so pro portioned that by means of rollers O" and Cconnecting-rod O, and stud O, the lever 0 swinging about stud 0', shall,as the cylinder nears the end of its stroke, go forward, and by means ofits forked end embrace the roller 0*, and, as soon as the gear 0 andrack B go out of action, gradually and gently bring the cylinder to restwith the roller C always in the same position vertically under thecenter of cylinder, shall then hold the cylinder in that position untilat such a time as the-bed B begins to go forward again, when the levershall forcibly start the cylinder forward and shall not let go of theroller 0 until the gear 0 and rack B" come into action once more,whereuponthe lever shall return-to the central position of its travelready to again go forward, embrace the roller (3 and bring the cylinderonce more to rest at theiend of the stroke which it has just started itupon. The crankshaft C runs in two bearingsone, C in side frame, A, andthe other in the bracket 0. Inside of bracket 0 and firmly keyed toshaft 0 is the crank gear 0, which obtains its motion from the gear 0fastened on the main driving-shaft G of the press. By means of aconnecting-rod, O", forked at one end to embracethe bed-rack pinion B*,and engaging at the other end with crank-pin O projecting from the outerface of the gear 0 the motion of gear 0 is transmitted to pinion B. Thebed-rack pinion consists of an ordinary gear, B, gearing below with arack, B fastened to the foundation A, and above with the rack B,fastened to the under side of bed B, and of two flanges or rollers, B,of a diameter equal to the pitch diameter of the pinion, and rolling onflanges or roller-ways B, placed on each side of the rack and on thelevel of the pitch line of the rack B. The object of the roller ways isto support the weight of the pinion B, to guide it, and to keep thepinion at the proper distances from the racks B and B Since the pinion Bmeshes with a fixed rack, B any amount of forward or backward motionimparted to it at its center by means of the connecting-rod O engagingthe crank-gear 0" will produce double the amount of motion at the upperend of a diameter perpendicular to the rack; hence the bed B andbed-rack B move twice as fast as the center of the pinion B.

So far I have described simply the ordinary form of a stop-cylinderpress, and lay no claim to any part as so far mentioned.

On the shaft of cylinder 0, produced outside of frame'A, is fastened adisk, D, carrying a roller, D", projecting from it, and in the sameplane of the roller 0 and the center line of cylinder. Embracing thisroller D is a slotted lever, D, swinging freely about the stud G". Theslot in the lever D is straight and of such length that the roller Dcannot come in contact with either end of it. Therefore the rotation ofthe disk D, carrying the roller D will simply result in causing the armI)" to swing forward and back from side to side. In Fig. 2 the slottedlever is shown at the extreme end of its motion, its center line beingtangent to the path of roller D To the lower end of leverD, by means ofa stud, D, is connected a rod, D, which, passing freely through theblock D is fastened to the block D by a nut on each side of the latter.springrods, D passing freely through D and fastened to the blocks D andD by pins or by nuts outside of the blocks, whereby the strains on thesprings may be adjusted. Around each of the rods D are wound spiralsprings D and D". Through the center of block D passes a crank-pin, D,projecting from the outside of a disk, D, fastened securely to thecrank-sha ft 0 outside of the frame A. It is evident that by rotatingthe disk D" and pin D to the outer or inner end of its throw a forwardor backward pressure will be exerted on thelower end oflever D by meansof the intermediate rods and springs, and so through the roller D ondisk D to cylinder 0. As the roller D" nears the end of its stroke, theposition of and pressure on the springs must be so arranged as to retardthceylinder and help bring it to rest; and since the springs musteffectively exert their pressure in starting the cylinder in ex actlythe opposite direction from what they did in stopping it, mechanism mustbe used to reverse the direction in which the pressure of the springs isto be exerted. In Fig. 2, as has been pointed out, the lever D" is atthe extreme end of .its side motion; and as roller D, sliding in theslotted lever D, nears the lowest part of its travel, so the crank-pin lapproaches the extreme point to the left of its travel. Fig. 5represents the position of the'parts as they exist when the cylinder hasjust come to rest. The lever D has combined with pin D, to put a largeamount of compression on springs D. While the bed is going back and thecylinder standing still, the pin D rotates to the position shown in Fi(3, compressing the springs D, which, pressing on the block D, tend toforce the lower end otD into the position shown in Fig. 7, and so startthe cylinder forward. In the drawings the compressing and releasing ofthe springs D and D is done by a crank-motion, as being the simplest wayof doing it; but a better result can be obtained by replacing the diskD" and pin D by a properly-shaped cam and rollers. Such a cam has theadvantage over the crank-motion that the amount of compres sion can bevaried, and can be more accurately and quickly brought into action atthe right time. In Figs. 8 and 9 the same arrangement is carried outwith the exceptions that the disk D" and the crank-pin D are replaced byan eccentric, D"; that the springs are placed inside, and so more out ofthe way; and, lastly, that instead of D being connected to D by onestud, I motion is transmitted from a bent slotted lever, D, byaconnecting-rod,

Blocks D and D are connected by two D, to an arm, D, fastened on theouter end of a shaft, D having one bearing in the frame A, and the otherin the bracket D", and by a lever, D, fastened to shaft D, and connectedto rod D. The chief advantage of this form of my invention consists inthe springs being inside of the frames, and so out of the way whilemanipulating the press in printing.

It is easily seen how the same principles and ideas might be arranged ina great rariety of ways to suit the requirements of each and everyindividual press; but it is needless to point them out any further thanhas already been done.

As it is possible, of course, to use my device only in stopping thecylinder, or only in starting it, I have shown in Figs. 10 and 11 myimprovement as arranged for starting the cylinder from rest. It will benoticed that it is shown as acting on the inner connectingrod, whichconveys motion from the cams C and C" to the forked lever G". Themechanism consists of the rods D having the starting-springs D coiledabout them, fastened, as in Fig. 2, to blocks D and D and passing freelythrough block D. Block D, instead of being fastened to a crank-disk,obtains its motion by carrying on its prolonged part a roller, D, actingwith the cam D, attached to the crank-shaft C The block D is fast enedto an overhanging projection of connectingrod G. From the foregoingdescription the modus cpcrcmdi is easily perceived. I am fully awarethat stop-cylinder presses are made in which a large amount of thecnergyof the arriving cylinder is absorbed by an ordinary friction brakeor shoe, thus easing the strain on the cams and C", and thereby somewhatpreventing any excessive wear on that partof them which stops thecylinder. Any of the above-described arrangements may be used with thebrake device, and so aid, not only in stopping the cylinder, but also instarting it again; or some one of the above arrangements maybe used tosimply start the cylinder while the brake is used to stop it.

As has been said before, I do not confine myself to the particular kindof cushion, buffer, or spring, as shown in the drawings, as each one andall of the various styles and kinds of air, rubber, coiled wire, orother springs, cushions, or buffers now in use which are capable ofabsorbing the momentum of a moving body and of afterward restoring itare applicable to and may be used with advantage on my device, nor yetto the particular kind of lever arrangement herein shown.

Vhat I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The combination, with the cylinder of astop-cylinder printing-press,of aseries of springs, or equivalent cushioning device, substantially asdescribed, together with a crank, or an equivalent cam with one or morerollers, and also suitable and proper connecting mechanism,substantially as shown, and so arranged and pin 1), or an equivalent camwith one or r5 more rollers, together with connecting-piece D, of aseries of springs or an equivalent cushioning device, substantially asdescribed, connecting-rod D, lever D studs D and C and having for itsobject the changing of the direction of the effective pressure of thesprings or cushioning device, substantially as described.

BERTHOLD HUBER.

\Vitnesses:

ELLEN M. LUCAS, WM. F. MAGRUDER.

